Trucking Industry Deregulation Legislation Statement on Senate Approval of the Legislation.

President Jimmy Carter
April 15, 1980

The Senate has passed a landmark trucking regulatory reform bill. For 40 years, complex, detailed Federal regulations have tied up the trucking industry, stifling competition and raising prices.

This bill will cut away most of those rules. It will increase competition, conserve energy, improve service to small communities, and eliminate arbitrary and inefficient restrictions on the routes truckers can drive and the goods they can carry. By voting to retain the provision fully deregulating processed food, the Senate took an immediate step to hold down food prices.

The Congress has already passed farreaching deregulation laws covering airlines and banking. Reform legislation covering railroads, communications, paperwork reduction, and the regulatory process is moving forward. This is the broadest regulatory reform program in history, and the trucking bill is a vital element.

The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that this bill will save $5 billion to $8 billion per year—an average of $70 to $100 for every household in America. It will cut almost one-half a point off the Consumer Price Index by 1985. We need those savings, and I urge the House to act promptly on this legislation.

I congratulate Senators Cannon and Packwood and their colleagues on this achievement.